Celiac.com 01/17/2019 - Kids with celiac disease, especially those who are recently diagnosed, are not getting proper follow-up care, according to the latest report. A team of researchers recently set out to assess the follow-up care of children with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease over a minimum of three years following diagnosis. Their results appear in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The research team included Bradley A. Blansky MS, Zackary J. Hintze BA, Eaman Alhassan MD, Alan M. Leichtner MD MCHPE, Dascha C.Weir MD, and Jocelyn A. Silvester MD, PhD.
They are variously affiliated with the Harvard Celiac Disease Program, Boston, MA; the Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Boston University, Boston, MA; the Department of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV; the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; the Rady College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
For their study, the research team used a database to randomly select children with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease at Boston Children's Hospital from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014. The team followed about 50 cases per year.
The researchers reviewed patient medical records for a minimum of 3 years of observation following diagnosis. Any child not receiving a gastrointestinal (GI) visit for 18 months was marked lost to follow-up.
The 241 eligible subjects averaged about 10 years old at diagnosis, and 63% were female. Nearly all of the children reported symptoms, with 24% complaining of abdominal pain, and 14% of experiencing constipation. Just 2% of the children showed no symptoms at all.
On the upside, more than 80% of the children saw a dietitian, with just under one-in-three kids attending both a dietitian-led class and an individual consultation.
But the records show that 25% of the kids were lost to follow-up within a year of diagnosis, and that nearly 10% received no GI visits at all after their diagnostic biopsy.
Read more at: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (PAYWALL)

Hey everyone, I just wanted to post an update on me and my beloved.
I went to go see her and her family for about 5 days, over Thanksgiving day and weekend, and just got back yesterday. We had a very wonderful time together and she's healing up and finally feeling much better than she was : ) <3. Everything at Thanksgiving dinner and every other meal was completely gluten-free and she and her mother had also been experimenting a little with gluten-free baking also...and I got to try some gluten-free cereal haha. It all went very well. One aspect of the last night was somewhat humorous though.
Her brother had offered to take her and I out for ice cream or hot chocolate after we picked her up from work. We were planning on watching a movie back at their house after we got home, and had picked up some drinks for us. I'd gotten me and my beloved something to share since she usually doesn't snack or drink pop all that much. While we were in the restaurant, her brother got a giant order of fries and offered them to both of us; she refused for obvious reasons, and then I refused because of wanting to support her with it, and then also to avoid cross-contamination later, if she ended up drinking from the soda I got for us. Turns out, we shared it a lot! hahaha XD. It was an interesting first experience for me to have to be cautious about that and working together for her health. I'm sure it will be invaluable in the future, as well as a fond memory of caring for her and loving her in that way ^ _ ^ .
Thanks for everyone who's been offering advice and support to me and her in all of my posts! I look forward to sharing more about our journey through life with this and learning even more.
God Bless,
-Dré Rosales